Adaptive gateway for switching transactions and data on unreliable networks using context-based rules

ABSTRACT

Application level switching of transactions at a gateway is provided. The gateway is configured to switch the transaction based on the application level content, a current state of a transport environment, and/or dynamic rules for switching transactions. For example, several possible service providers can be selected for the type of transaction, and the gateway can monitor not only the round-trip time through the network(s) to different possible service providers, but also the time required to complete the transaction at the application level and return a response. The application is chosen on the sending side of the network, and application level formatting is done on the sending side as well. The gateway uses modular code and data, and separate instances of processing code to allow dynamic updating. Rules for application service selection can be selectively uploaded to the gateway from a client. The rules for different available application services can be distributed across different gateways.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims priority from and is a non-provisionalcontinuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/171,516,entitled, “ADAPTIVE GATEWAY FOR WITCHING TRANSACTIONS AND DATA ONUNRELIABLE NETWORKS USING CONTEXT-BASED RULES,” filed Jun. 29, 2005,issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,774,402 on Aug. 10, 2010, the entire contentsof which are herein incorporated by reference for all purposes. Thispatent application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/172,397, entitled “SCHEMA-BASED DYNAMIC PARSE/BUILD ENGINE FORPARSING MULTI-FORMAT MESSAGES”, filed Jun. 29, 2005, issued as U.S. Pat.No. 7,694,287 on Apr. 6, 2010, the entire contents of which are hereinincorporated by reference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to telecommunications and morespecifically to techniques for intelligently switching transactions atthe application level based on content of the transaction, dynamiccontext information for a transport environment, and/or dynamic rulesfor switching transactions.

When transactions, such as credit card authorizations, debit cardtransactions, electronic check transactions, etc., are performed at aclient, the clients send transactions to a service provider. The serviceprovider provides services to the client, such as credit cardauthorizations, settlement of transactions, etc. Typically, clients havethe transaction routed to a transaction processor of the serviceprovider for processing. The transaction may be routed though variousnetworks. The various networks may be disparate networks that may or maynot be reliable.

Typically, the transaction requires a rapid response and highreliability. For example, a user may be performing a credit cardtransaction with a client. In this transaction, a credit cardauthorization request may be needed to be sent for processing to thetransaction processor, which can facilitate the authorization of thetransaction. The transaction may fail or be delayed because one of thevarious networks the transaction is sent through or the transactionprocessor that is used to process the transaction for the client hasfailed. If any failures occur, a client is in danger of losing thetransaction and any benefits gained from consummating the transaction.

Conventionally, a transaction may be broken down into a series ofpackets. Embodiments of the present invention operate on transactions,at the application level, while much of the prior art is directed torouting at the network level, operating on packets. Each individualpacket may be routed at the packet level, or routed based on informationin the packet, such as information in the header. The following patentsdescribe network-level routing of packets (as opposed to the applicationlevel switching of embodiments of the present invention). IBM U.S. Pat.No. 5,974,460 describes selecting one of a number of mirror sites on theinterne for downloading data by first determining which of the sitesexhibits the best transfer rates at the time of the site selection. DECU.S. Pat. No. 5,341,477 is similar. Alcatel U.S. Pat. No. 5,754,543describes routing across a network taking into account the transmissioncosts. Other patents taking into account transmission costs are U.S.Pat. No. 6,535,488 and Nortel U.S. Pat. No. 6,487,286. DEC U.S. Pat. No.5,459,837 shows a system for monitoring the performance of serversacross a network and for determining which server has the most bandwidthto handle the request. Cabletron Systems U.S. Pat. No. 5,521,910 showspackets in canonical frame format, and determining a best path through anetwork using various metrics. U.S. Pat. No. 6,839,700 describes loadbalancing of content requests based on document generation costs. U.S.Pat. No. 6,754,188 describes routing packets based on packetcontent—whether it is voice, video, or file transfer.

IBM U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,120 shows a network processor that with thefirst three layers of the OSI model. A processor, which accesses layers4 and above for flow control, to make routing decisions based on qualityof service, is shown in Top Layer Networks U.S. Pat. No. 6,430,184. Thisallows distinguishing between priority-based email andbandwidth—guarantee-based multimedia.

Intel U.S. Pat. No. 6,732,175 shows switching in a network based onexamining the content of a packet to determine the type of businesstransaction (e.g., purchase order) and forwarding it to an appropriateserver for handling that type of service. This is done after the messageis sent over a network to a web site destination, not before it is sentacross a network. There are many examples of systems at a destinationserver that route messages based on content, such as intelligent loadbalancers. Diebold U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,326 shows converting financialmessages into a common format, then routing them to an appropriateprogram in a system. EDS U.S. Pat. No. 5,805,798 describes network nodesthat monitor the status of financial processing servers, and routemessages to a backup in the event of unavailability.

The above patents are focused either on routing the individual packetsat the packet level or routing data based on static rules. This mayprovide efficient routing of the packet; however, switching of thetransaction at the application level based on dynamic context of thetransport environment and dynamic rules is not addressed. In addition,where choosing between processors is done, this is typically at a node,such as a load balancer, between the network and the destination.Accordingly, it is desirable to provide techniques for intelligentlyswitching a transaction at the application level.

Current technologies at the application level require a client to handlethe application level interaction. The client is required to change itssoftware systems in response to changes at a transaction processor, andalso is required to support the different message formats expected bythe different transaction processors. Client also need to handlefailures on server systems and networks, and failover to alternateserver processors so as to provide a continuous operation to theclient's users.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to switchingtransactions at the application level based on application level contentof the transaction, dynamic context information of a transportenvironment and/or dynamic rules for switching transactions. Anapplication router can be provided at the client edge of a network to(1) provide intelligent routing based on application level information,(2) perform preprocessing services before forwarding to a server, or (3)perform offloaded services without routing to the server, and returninga reply to the client.

In one embodiment, intelligent switching of transactions is provided. Aclient sends a transaction to a gateway, which is then configured tointelligently switch the transaction to a transaction processor. Thegateway is configured to switch the transaction based on the applicationlevel content, a current state of a transport environment, and/ordynamic rules for switching transactions. For example, several possibleservice providers can be selected for the type of transaction, and thegateway can monitor not only the round-trip time through the network(s)to different possible service providers, but also the time required bythe service provider to complete the transaction at the applicationlevel and return a response.

The switching according to embodiments of the present invention is doneon the sending side of the network, not the receiving side. Transactionsare not only formatted for routing across a particular network, they areformatted for processing by the particular processor at the destinationend of the network, rather than doing such formatting at the receivingnode. Thus, the node on the sending side of the network(s) includesinformation on the workflow of the processors on the receiving side ofthe network(s). In one embodiment, this is possible and practical byworking with only a limited number of fields in a particular format,such as the limited number of fields needed for a financial transactionapproval. In one embodiment, the routing chooses between Internet and aprivate financial network for routing financial transactions forapproval. However, embodiments of the present invention can be appliedto any type of transactions or content, such as ordering anddistributing music, video, etc.

In one embodiment, application level service providers can publish,advertise or register their service across the network(s). A gatewayaccording to embodiments of the present invention can receive and storeall or selected ones of these published services. The gateway can verifythat the publisher is a trusted entity (such as a registered bank ormerchant), and determine if the publisher's service is relevant to thetransactions of the gateway's client(s). The services can be registeredand updated dynamically, without the need to wait until the end of theday or for a human operator to intervene.

In one embodiment, using the stored details of services provided byservice providers, the gateway can not only choose which service to senda transaction to, but can format the transaction appropriately for theservice provider at the application level. In addition, certainpre-processing or conditioning steps could be performed at the gatewaybefore sending the transaction across a network to the service provider.Alternately, in some or all cases, all the transaction processing couldbe done at the gateway according to rules received from the serviceprovider. For example, credit card transactions less than a thresholdamount could be approved, not only without having to go to the bank forapproval, but also without even having to go over a network to thecredit card company.

In one embodiment, a client can specify rules or criteria fordetermining which service provider to select. These rules or criteriacan be stored in the gateway. These client criteria can be loaded inadvance of a transaction, or loaded immediately before or after atransaction message is sent.

In one embodiment, the capabilities of a gateway according to thepresent invention are distributed across a number of gateways. Eachgateway is physically positioned at the edge of a network, at a point ofclient access, and may even be on the physical premise of a client. Thegateway stores the information regarding the client(s) it is connectedto, and relies on other gateways to provide information about servicesthe other gateways are connected to. This is somewhat analogous to arouter getting table information from other routers it is connected tofor network packet transmissions, except embodiments of the presentinvention deal with application level services. Each gateway need onlystore broadcast service provider information that it or its clients areinterested in, and only need store the address of the other gatewaysthrough which it makes that connection, although other connectionsbeyond that may be needed.

A further understanding of the nature and the advantages of theinventions disclosed herein may be realized by reference of theremaining portions of the specification and the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a system for processing transactions according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts a more detailed embodiment of a gateway according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 depicts a simplified flowchart of a method for processing atransaction according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 depicts a simplified flowchart for generating configurationinformation for a service offered by a transaction processor accordingto one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 depicts a simplified flowchart of a method for subscribing to aservice according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 depicts a decentralized system of a plurality of gatewaysaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 depicts a system that shows the gateway as a front-end gatewayaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 depicts a system where the gateway is an Internet gatewayaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 depicts a system where the gateway is used as a wireless gatewayaccording to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 depicts a system for processing ISO 8583 transactions accordingto one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 depicts a system for parsing messages according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 discloses an embodiment of a gateway according to embodiments ofthe present invention.

FIG. 13A depicts a structure for an IMF object according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13B depicts attributes for a message definition according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 14A, 14B, and 14C depict a possible message, a hierarchical formatwith object ID codes, and an IMF object for the message according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 depicts a simplified flowchart of a method for initializing theparse/build engine to process a message stream according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 depicts a simplified flowchart of a method for dynamicallyadding or updating a schema in the parse/build engine according to oneembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 depicts a simplified flowchart of a method for parsing an inputmessage according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 depicts a simplified flowchart of a method for building anoutput message from an IMF object according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Processing Overview

In one embodiment, intelligent switching of transactions is provided. Atransaction may be a credit card authorization, debit card transactionor an electronic check transaction. Other examples of transactionsinclude awarding of points or other rewards in an awards program,checking a password for a Verified by Visa authentication, doing a moneytransfer, deducting a payment from a prepaid card, such as a Visa Buxxcard or a salary card, handling a proximity payment from a cell phone,pager, PDA, etc., determining coverage under health, auto, or otherinsurance, etc. A client sends a transaction to a gateway, which is thenconfigured to intelligently switch the transaction to a transactionprocessor of a service provider. The client could be a POS, a merchantcomputer networked to POS devices or ECRs (electronic cash registers), akiosk (such as for coupons or money transfer), an Internet web siteserver, etc.

The gateway is configured to make switching decisions at the applicationlevel based on the application level content of the transaction, acurrent state of a transport environment, and/or dynamic rules. Theapplication level content may be information that is processed or usedby a transaction processor in processing the transaction. In oneembodiment, the information may be OSI layer 7 information. This layerdirectly serves the transaction processor or end user. It includesapplications such as credit card authorization, debit card transactionapplications, etc. Example application layer protocols are FTP (FileTransfer Protocol), NFS (Network File System), CIFS (Common InternetFile System), HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), database query, SQL(Standard Query Language), and XML (Extensible Markup Language). Forexample, in a credit card authorization, application level content mayinclude the credit card number, personal account number (PAN), acustomer account number, a total amount for the transaction, etc. Thetransaction processor may use this information in order to process thetransaction.

The current state of the transport environment includes real-timeinformation associated with networks that can transport the transactionand transaction processors that may process the transaction. Thereal-time information may include the health of a network or transactionprocessor, the availability of a network or transaction processor, theapplication processing speed of a transaction processor, etc.

The dynamic rules may be information that is used to decide how tointelligently switch the transaction. The rules are used to switch thetransaction according to the application level content and the currentstate of the transport environment. For example, the rules may specifythat, depending on certain application level content and the currentstate of the transport environment, a certain service offered by aservice provider should be selected. Further, the rules may be used toselect a transaction processor for the service provider to process thetransaction. For example, certain countries may require local processingfor domestic transactions, thus requiring routing to a regionalprocessing center. These rules may also factor in static information,such as network costs, service costs, etc. in order to make a selection.The rules may be dynamically changed without taking down a gateway.

The gateway may also perform services on the transaction according tothe rules. The services may include processing the application levelcontent. For example, transaction processors may be configured toprocess a transaction in different formats. A selected transactionprocessor may be configured to process application level content in adifferent format from the application level content currently in thetransaction. Thus, the gateway may change the application level contentto the new format so the selected transaction processor can process it.Accordingly, the gateway may change information in a transaction at theapplication level. This is different from reviewing information at thepacket level. Conventionally, a transaction may be broken up intopackets. A router may look at information in the packet and route thepacket accordingly. Looking at information at the packet level, however,does not allow the router to perform services using the applicationlevel content for the transaction. For example, by looking at theapplication level content for the full transaction, the transaction maybe intelligently routed with appropriate services applied to thetransaction. If individual packets carrying information for thetransaction are processed individually, the application level content ofthe transaction as a whole is not processed.

Accordingly, a gateway is provided that intelligently switches atransaction at the application level based on the application levelcontent, current state of a transport environment, and/or dynamic rules.The gateway may also provide services that are applied based on theswitching decision.

System Overview

FIG. 1 depicts a system 100 for processing transactions according to oneembodiment of the present invention. As shown, system 100 includes oneor more clients 102, one or more gateways 104, one or more networks 106,and one or more transaction processors 108. The following descriptionwill be described with respect to a single gateway 104, but it will beunderstood that multiple gateways 104 may be provided to perform anyfunctions described below. Also, although the gateways are shownadjacent the clients, gateways may also be deployed adjacent thetransaction processors, between the transaction processors and thenetworks 106.

Clients 102 include any system configured to send a transaction. Forexample, clients 102 may include a system of computing devices thatperform transactions with users. In one example, clients 102 may includea point of sale (POS) device that receives user information, such ascredit card information, a pin number, name, etc., for a credit cardauthorization, check card transaction, etc. A client could also be akiosk in a store for checking points or coupon information, or a kioskfor money transfer, or a node for receiving wireless user input from acell phone or other device, or a web site server, etc. The client couldalso be a merchant server through which POS devices are networked.

The client (e.g., POS device) may then send a transaction that requestsa transaction service from a transaction processor 108. A transactionservice may be any actions that may be performed by a transactionprocessor 108. In one embodiment, these transaction services add valuefor transactions being performed by clients 102. Examples of transactionservices include facilitating credit card authorizations, debit cardtransactions, electronic check transactions, etc. A transaction servicemay also include processing a transaction or exchanging data.

Gateway 104 includes a system configured to receive transactions fromclients 102 and to route the transactions to transaction processors 108through networks 106. In one embodiment, gateway 104 is situated on theedge of a network 106. For example, gateway 104 may be at the point ofaccess for client 102 or be on the premises of client 102. The edge ofnetwork 106 may be a point where transactions may be configured forrouting through network 106. For example, gateway 104 may select atransaction processor 108 and send the request to a router of network106. The transaction may be broken up into a number of packets. Therouter would then route the packets for the transaction through network106 to transaction processor 106.

Networks 106 may be any network configured to transfer data. Forexample, networks 106 may include any packet-based networks, publicswitched telephone networks (PSTNs), wireless networks, the Internet,private financial networks, etc.

In one embodiment, networks 106 may be disparate and/or unreliablenetworks. The networks are disparate in that they may be controlled bydifferent entities, may route data using different protocols andformats, may route data using different transport methods, etc. Forexample, networks 106 may be controlled by different entities. In oneexample, a first Internet Service Provider (ISP) may maintain a network106-1 and a second Internet Service Provider may maintain a network106-2. Transactions may be routed through either network 106-1 ornetwork 106-2 in one embodiment.

Also, networks 106 may be of different types. For example, a network106-1 may be an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network that routespackets of data. Another network 106-2 may be a wireless network thattransmits data wirelessly. Further, another network 106 may be a privatenetwork for an entity, such as the VisaNet network. Although only twonetworks 106 are shown, it will be understood that many more networks106 may be provided. Also, it will be understood that transactions maybe routed through multiple networks 106. For example, transactions maybe routed through network 106-1, then network 106-2, and then to atransaction processor 108.

Networks 106 may also be unreliable. Because of the nature of networks,they may fail at any time. Thus, failover processing is needed to avoiddisruptions in transaction processing.

Service providers may register and publish services that can be offeredto clients 102. Clients 102 may register for the services and havetransactions switched to the service providers. Service providers mayhave any number of transaction processors 108 that are configured toprovide the services to clients 102. In one embodiment, transactionprocessors 108 process financial transactions. For example, transactionprocessors 108 may be associated with issuers, acquirers, merchants, orany other service provider. In one example, transaction processors 108facilitate the authorization of credit card transactions.

A service may be provided by more than one transaction processor 108.For example, a service provider may have many data centers that canprovide a service to a client 102. Thus, a transaction for the servicemay be switched to any of the transaction processors 108 that canprovide the service. The transaction processor 108 may be selected bygateway 104 based on application level content, context information fora transport environment, and/or dynamic rules, all of which may bedynamically changing.

The application level services may be dynamically changed. Servicesavailable may be modified, moved to another processor, be unavailabledue to maintenance or failure, etc.

The context information for the transport environment may also bedynamically changing. Gateway 104 thus determines the contextinformation for the transport environment when determining how to switcha transaction. For example, a current state of the health of a network106, the availability of a network 106, the availability of atransaction processor 108, the speed that data is being transferredthrough a network 106, the cost of transferring a transaction through anetwork 106, the cost of processing a transaction, how long anapplication is taking to process a transaction at the application level,etc. may be determined.

In addition to the dynamic information for the context information forthe transport environment, certain relatively static information may bedetermined. For example, static information may be the cost of atransaction, the format needed in order for a transaction processor 108to process a transaction, etc. Gateway 106 may use the dynamic andstatic information in determining how to route a transaction.

The dynamic rules may be information that is used to decide how tointelligently switch the transaction. The rules may be dynamicallyloaded. For example, a service provider may register rules for aservice, which be dynamically loaded onto gateway 104. Also, a clientmay subscribe to the service and provider rules for switching itstransactions to the service provider. These rules may also bedynamically loaded onto gateway 104.

Accordingly, gateway 104 can dynamically select a transaction processor108 for a service that can process a transaction. Business servicesparticular to a selected transaction processor may also be performed onthe transaction, such as the transaction may be formatted such that theselected transaction processor 108 can process it. The transaction canthen be sent through a selected network 106 to the selected transactionprocessor 108. By dynamically selecting transaction processors 108and/or networks 106, gateway 104 insulates clients 102 from any failuresof transaction processors 108 and/or networks 106. Accordingly, thisprovides extremely high service availability. Gateway 104 insulates aclient 102 from any changes that need to be made that may cause downtimefor a transaction processor 108.

Overview of Gateway 104

FIG. 2 depicts a more detailed description of gateway 104 according toone embodiment of the present invention. As shown, gateway 104 includesone or more request handlers 202, an inbound message stream parser 204,a security manager 206, an adaptive route selector 208, a flow handler210, an outbound message stream builder 212, a message dispatcher 214, acoordinator 216, an administration module 218, a configuration loader220, a rules database 222, a context information database 224, and adynamic information monitor 226.

Request handlers 202 are configured to receive transactions from clients102. Clients 102 may send transactions in different protocols andformats, such as hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), file transferprotocol (FTP), extensive markup language (XML), ISO 8583 standards,etc. Request handlers 202 provide an interface for transactions sent invarious protocols and formats, and provide the transactions to inboundmessage stream parser 204. For example, an ISO message handler isconfigured to receive ISO 8583 requests from clients 102 and pass themto inbound message stream parser 204. Also, an XML message handler, anHTTP request handler, and an FTP request handler can handle XML, HTTP,and FTP messages and/or requests. Accordingly, request handlers 202allow gateway 104 to receive messages in different protocols andformats. Although the above formats and protocols are described, it willbe understood that a person skilled in the art will appreciate otherformats and protocols that request handlers 202 may process.

Inbound message stream parser 204 is configured to receive a transactionfrom request handlers 202 and convert the request into a canonical form.Inbound message stream parser 204 can receive messages in differentformats and process those requests into a canonical format that can thenbe processed by other components of gateway 104. Accordingly,transaction requests in many different formats may be processed bygateway 104. Inbound message stream parser 204 also provides anextensible architecture in that new formats that may be processed bygateway 104 may be enabled. If a new format is added, the translationfrom the new format to the canonical format is added to inbound messagestream processor 104. Thus, because the canonical format is used,changes to all components in gateway 104 are not needed when new formatsare added. Rather, inbound message stream parser 204 is configured toparse a request into a canonical format that can be processed by othercomponents of gateway 104. Further details of inbound message streamprocessor 204 can be found below.

Security manager 206 is configured to provide security features for thetransactions. For example, security features such as pluggableauthentication and authorization, role-based access control (RBAC),encryption, file integrity, etc. may be provided. The pluggableauthentication and authorization feature provides a standard interfacefor authentication and authorization and hence allows newer methods ofauthentication and access control to be added without impacting existingmethods. A person skilled in the art will appreciate other securityfeatures that may be added to transactions.

An adaptive route selector 208 is configured to switch a transaction toa transaction processor 108 through a network 106. Adaptive routeselector 208 switches the transaction based on application levelcontent, the current state of a transport environment, and/or dynamicrules.

Adaptive route selector 208 uses rules found in rules database 222 anddynamic context information found in context information database 224 toroute a transaction. As mentioned above, context information may bestored in context information database 224. In one embodiment, thecontext information may be dynamic. A dynamic information monitor 226may monitor and determine context information. The dynamic informationis then stored in context information database 224. Examples of contextinformation include the availability of networks 106, the health oftransaction processors 108, a cost per transaction, time taken for anapplication to process previous transaction at the application level,etc. In one embodiment, dynamic information monitor 226 may determinedynamic context information at run-time when a transaction is received.In another embodiment, dynamic information monitor 226 may determinedynamic context information at certain intervals.

Each different service performed by transactions processors 108 mayspecify probes that can be performed by dynamic information monitor 226.The probes are sent and allow information to be collected based on thestatus of a transaction processor 108 and/or network 106. For example,dynamic information monitor 226 may ping a network in order to determineif the network is available. If the transaction processor 108 or network106 cannot be reached, it may be considered unavailable and statusinformation is reflected in context information database 224. If alltransaction processors 108 for a service cannot be reached, then theservice may be considered unavailable. Gateway 104 may determine anotherservice provider that provides the service in this case. Also, the timeit takes an application on a transaction processor 108 to process atransaction may be measured. For example, how long the application takesto authorize a credit card authorization is measured. This measurementprovides application level context that can be used to switch atransaction.

Rules database 222 includes rules for determining a service for atransaction in addition to a network 106 and processor 108 to processthe transaction. The rules may also express criteria for a client. Forexample, in order for a service to be selected, certain contextinformation and application level content should be satisfied for therules. Clients may provide client-specific rules that may be used toselect a service for the transaction. In one example, when a transactionis received for a client 102, adaptive route selector 208 may determinea client's specified selection rules and determine a service that canhandle the transaction. In order to switch the transaction to a serviceprovider that provides the service, application level content isdetermined from the transaction and/or dynamic context information isdetermined from context information database 224. The application levelcontent and/or context information is applied to the rules to determinea service provider that can process the transaction according to therules. For example, based on certain factors, such as costs, clients 102may specify that the cheapest service should be selected first, but ifnot available, a second more expensive service should be selected. Also,based on application level content, such as account numbers,transactions may be switched to a certain credit card service. Forexample, certain account numbers may indicate a credit vs. debit card,or that a particular points or awards system applies. Other accountnumbers or fields could indicate a need for other services, such asmoney transfer or password verification (e.g., Verified by Visa). Also,the application level content may include the location of the client andany regional or country-specific regulations that dictate if thetransaction needs to be processed locally or sent to a processor 108 ina different country.

The services may also include a service specification that specifiesrules for the service. For example, the rules may specify the messageformat required for transactions, the network addresses of transactionprocessors 108 that provide the service, preferences for switchingtransactions to transaction processors 108, the range of account numbersthat qualify for the service, etc. These rules are provided by a serviceprovider upon registration, as discussed in more detail below. Theservice provider may directly load the rules on gateway 104, which wouldthen publish the rules to other interested gateways.

The rules may specify flows that can process the transaction. The flowshandle processing of the transaction for sending to a transactionprocessor 108. The message is then sent to a selected flow handler 210.After the transaction processor 108 and network 106 are selected, flowhandler 210 may perform business services on the transaction. Forexample, different transaction processors 108 may process transactionsin different formats. Flow handler 210 may determine the appropriateformat for the selected transaction processor 108 and format thetransaction in that format. Other business services may includecurrency-conversions, encrypting sensitive fields, client side stand-inprocessing for transaction values below a certain threshold, etc.

Flow handler 210 may include a plurality of flows. Each flow may handlea set of business services that process a class of messages. Each flowincludes a flow handler that coordinates all the business services inthe flow. A sequence of services within a flow is specified by a flowspecification, which can be loaded at run time using configurationloader 220. The flow specification is the sequence of services thatdetermines how the incoming message is handled. Each service is asoftware application code that performs a specific function. Newservices and flow specifications can be loaded dynamically to gateway104.

After flow handler 210 processes the transaction in a flow, the messageis sent to an outbound message stream builder 212. Builder 212 isconfigured to build an outbound message from a canonical format based ona message form expected by the determined transaction processor 108.Builder 212 is thus configured to generate a message in any messageformat based on the canonical message format. Outbound message streambuilder 212 is described in more detail below.

Message dispatcher 212 is configured to send a transaction to atransaction processor 108. Dispatcher 214 may ensure that a transactionreaches the selected transaction processor 108. It may manageconnections to various transaction processors 108, attempt to reconnectto failed transaction processors 108, and also provide the status oftransaction processors 108 and networks 106 to dynamic informationmonitor 226. In one embodiment, the transaction may be packetized, i.e.,broken up into a series of packets and sent to a router. The router mayroute the packets through network 106 to the transaction processor 108.

A coordinator 216 is provided to coordinate the processes of gateway 104and to ensure transactions are properly processed. Also, coordinator 216provides services for application management, software distribution,system monitoring and failover capabilities to gateway 104. Applicationmanagement supports starting and stopping of applications and serviceslocally and remotely. It also allows new applications and services to beadded to gateway 104. Software distribution enables software updates tobe installed on gateway 104, and includes support for rolling backupdates if necessary. System monitoring service monitors key parametersof system components such as memory, CPU, network interfaces, andprocesses, and generates alerts if the configured parameters deviatefrom threshold values. It also restarts a process if it detects aprocess failure. Coordinator 216 also monitors the health of a peergateway 104 using a heart-beat mechanism (in case of a multi-gatewaycluster deployment), and takes over the processing load of the peergateway 104 if the peer gateway 104 fails.

Dynamic Loading of Rules

After initial registration of a service (described below), the rules andbusiness services performed by gateway 104 may be dynamically changed.Administration module 218 and configuration loader 220 are configured todynamically load changes to rules database 222 and flow handler 210.

Configuration loader 220 is configured to load a configuration changes,routing rules, new flow specifications, etc. into rules database 222 atrun time. Accordingly, configuration loader 220 allows the dynamicreconfiguration of routing rules in rules database 222. The rule-basemaintains multiple versions of the rule-objects and has a synchronizedreference to the current version of the rule-base. Before configurationloader 220 loads updates to the rule-base, it creates a shadow copy ofthe active rule-base and versions it. Then, for every object that isupdated, it creates a new instance of the object and updates thereference in the new version of the rule-base. When all the updates arecompleted, it changes the reference to point to the new version of therule-base.

Administration module 218 is configured to allow for administrativeactions to be performed. Administration module 218 may be used by a useragent to administer one or more gateways 104. For example,administration module 218 may be used to define new rules into ruledatabase 222 or change routing rules dynamically. Also, administrationmodule 218 may also be used to load and unload new flow specificationsfor flow handler 210, start and stop business services, and load andunload configurations. Configuration loader 220 is then configured toperform the changes.

The dynamic changes of embodiments of the invention are made possible bythe combination of modularization of services and the run-timeinvocation of services for processing messages through a flow (e.g., seedescription of flows above). When a new transaction is received byadaptive route selector 208, it reads the current version of therule-base and applies the rules to select the appropriate flow. Sincethe flow handler 210 uses a specific version of a flow for the entirelife of the transaction, and each flow specification refers to aspecific versions of services, flows and rules. Thus, they can beupdated without interfering with an existing transaction at that timebecause the updates are effected in a different version than the versionbeing currently used by existing transactions.

Processing of a Transaction

FIG. 3 depicts a simplified flowchart 300 of a method for processing atransaction according to one embodiment of the present invention. Instep 302, a transaction is received from a client 102. The transactionmay be any type of transaction such as credit card authorization, checkcard transaction, etc.

In step 304, application level content is determined for thetransaction. As mentioned above, the application level content is usedto process the transaction. For example, the application level contentmay be credit card number, PIN, the name of a member bank (enquirer orissuer), etc. The application level content may be considered as awhole. For example, if the transaction was packetized into a number ofpackets, the application level content may be found in a payload ofmultiple packets. This information may be reassembled into theapplication level content for the transaction.

In step 306, the current state of the transport environment isdetermined. For example, the health of a transaction processor that canprovide the services determined. Further, the network health fornetworks 106 that can route the transaction may also be determined. Thisinformation may be determined in real-time to provide the current stateof the transport environment.

In step 308, rules are applied to the application level informationand/or current state of the transport environment to determine aservice. For example, certain clients 102 may be associated with certainservices. A processor host such as Visa may desire that its transactionsbe switched to transaction processors 108 that are owned by Visa.Further, other processor hosts may desire that their transactions beswitched to a secondary transaction processor, such as Vital.

In step 310, rules are applied to determine a transaction processorand/or network 106 in which to switch the transaction for the service.This decision may be determined based on the application level contentand/or the current state on the transport environment as applied to therules. For example, a service to process the transaction is determined.Then, an applicable transaction processor 108 is determined based onnetwork availability.

Also, a service may also be associated with various transactionprocessors 108 and networks 106. For example, credit card authorizationsmay be configured to be sent to certain transaction processors 108.Further, check card transactions may be configured to be sent to asecond set of transaction processors 108. These rules are determined forthe client and/or transaction service.

In step 312, any business services may be performed at the applicationlevel on the transaction as required. For example, a transaction may beformatted into a format expected by the selected transaction processor108, any information at the application level may be added to thetransaction, or any other business services may be performed.

In step 314, the transaction may be switched to the selected transactionprocessor 108 through network 106.

Alternatively, in another embodiment, gateway 104 is configured toprocess the transaction without switching the transaction to a serviceprovider. A service provider may specify rules that state gateway 104can process transactions if certain criteria are met. For example, ifthe transaction is lower than a certain amount. In one example, creditcard transactions less than a threshold amount could be approved, notonly without having to go to the bank for approval, but also withouthaving to go over network 106 to a credit card company. This offers manyadvantages as transactions can be processed at the edge of the network.This eliminates network bottlenecks and provides a decentralizedprocessing system.

Service Creation and Subscription

As mentioned above, rules may be dynamically loaded into rules database222. FIG. 4 depicts a simplified flowchart 400 for loading rules ingateway 104 for a service offered by transaction processor 108 accordingto one embodiment of the present invention. In step 402, a servicecreation request is received. For example, a service provider may try toregister a service by sending a service creation request that specifiesa service that is being offered by the service provider. Alternately, agateway 104 associated with a transaction processor or other serviceprovider may dynamically advertise new services, and a gatewayassociated with a client can determine whether to initiate aregistration for those new services. A new service might be a moneytransfer service, a new points program, etc.

In step 404, rules for the service are received. For example, the rulesmay specify addresses for transaction processors 108 that can processthe service. The network addresses may be IP addresses or any otheridentifiers that can be used to route transactions to transactionprocessors 108. Additionally, information for networks 106 that can beused to route the request to the transaction processors 108 may also bereceived. The rules may also specify criteria for using the service. Forexample, criteria specifying the format messages are expected to bereceived in, the costs of using the service (both fixed andper-transaction costs), and any other criteria for using the service maybe received. The rules could specify which types of cards, or types ofaccounts or account number ranges qualify or are registered for theservice.

In step 406, rules for the service are dynamically loaded into rulesdatabase 222 by administration module 218 using configuration loader220. Further, any flow specifications that are needed to processtransactions for the service may be loaded into flow handler 202.

Accordingly, when the service has been created and published, clients108 may subscribe to the services. FIG. 5 depicts a simplified flowchart500 of a method for subscribing to a service according to one embodimentof the present invention. In step 502, a request is received from aclient 108 to subscribe to a created service. The request may bereceived through a web portal or by any other methods. Clients 102 maycontact and access gateway 104 directly.

In step 504, a specification for rules or criteria for using a serviceis received from client 108. This specification may indicate criteriathat are needed to select the service for a transaction received fromclient 108. The criteria may be client-specific or may be uniform acrossmany clients 108 (e.g., for all POS devices for an entity). Also, thespecification may be in the form of a priority for each servicesubscribed to by the client 108. For example, a client may specify that,for a transaction, a first service is selected, but, if that service isnot working, then a second service should be selected, etc. The criteriamay also be more complicated and include more complex rules that factorin the network costs, service costs, etc.

In step 506, rules for routing the requests for the service aregenerated. These rules may specify criteria that need to be satisfiedbased on application level content and/or the current state of thenetwork transport environment in order for the service to be selected.

In step 508, these rules may be dynamically loaded into rules database222. Accordingly, a service may be immediately available to a client 108that subscribes to the service.

In step 510, flow definitions for the service are generated. Flowdefinitions may be configured to support the service. In one embodiment,flow definitions for the service may have already existed and may notneed to be generated. However, if the specialized business services needto be performed for client 108, new flow definitions may be generated.

In step 512, the flow definitions generated in step 510 may bedynamically loaded by configuration loader 220.

In one embodiment, the rules may be received from a client 102 before atransaction is sent. For example, client 102 may subscribe to a serviceand provide rules for using the service. In another embodiment, therules may be sent immediately before or after a transaction is sent. Forexample, client 102 may specify rules to use in a message sent before orafter the transaction. The rules are then dynamically loaded ontogateway 104. This allows a client 102 to dynamically configure gateway104 at run-time.

Decentralization of Rules for Services

A plurality of gateways 104 may be deployed in a system. Each gateway104 can provide its own services to clients 102 it is coupled to.Gateway 104 may be positioned at the edge of network 106, at a point ofclient access, and possibly on the physical premise of a client 102. Inone embodiment, gateways 104 only store information for services offeredby the gateway 104. Different gateways 104 may have information for adifferent set of services. Accordingly, the information for providingvarious services registered by service providers or subscribed to byclients 102 may be distributed across gateways 104 or is decentralized.Because of the decentralization of information, gateways 104 areconfigured to contact other gateways 104 to either query for informationfor a service or to provide information for a service.

FIG. 6 depicts a system 550 showing the decentralized system of gateways104 according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown aplurality of clients 102 and gateways 104 are shown. Gateways 104 arelocated on the edge of one or more networks 106.

Each gateway 104 may be coupled to one or more clients 102. Fordiscussion purposes, a single client 102 is shown coupled to a gateway104 but it will be understood that many clients 102 may be coupled to agateway 104. Also, it will be understood that gateways 104 may becoupled to transaction processors 108 instead of clients 102.

Gateway 104 is configured to process transactions for the clients 102 itis coupled to at the edge of network 106. For example, gateway 104-1 isconfigured to process transactions for client 102-1 and gateway 104-2 isconfigured to process transactions for client 104-2. Gateway 104-1stores information for services offered to client 102-1 and alsoinformation regarding preferences for client 102-1. The same is true forother gateways 104 and clients 102.

Gateways 104 maintain contact information for other gateways 104 tofacilitate distribution of information for services. For example, when afirst gateway 104 needs information for a service not currently offeredby the first gateway 104, it can contact a second gateway 104 thatoffers the service to have information, such as the rules for theservice, sent to it. In another embodiment, the first gateway 104 maysend a transaction for the service to the second gateway 104 where thesecond gateway 104 can process the transaction. In this case, the secondgateway 104 can switch the transaction to a transaction processor 108,receive a response, and then send the response back to the first gateway104.

The contact information may also be used to distribute information forservices to other gateways 104. For example, a service provider mayupload a new service on a first gateway 104. The rules for the servicemay then be distributed to other gateways 104. For example, gatewaysthat are coupled to clients 102 at the edge are sent the rules if theclients 102 are interested in the service. Clients 102 can also uploadtheir own rules.

Each client may load only the rules for services it desires, reducingthe memory and updating needed, and improving the speed of the gatewayprocessing. For example, a hotel client may want a points or rewardsservice, but not a money transfer service. By only loading desiredservices, the hotel could get more information on its gateway withoutimpacting performance. For example, the account numbers, or ranges ofaccount numbers, that are in a points program can be stored on thegateway, so the processing to determine if a user qualifies for pointscan be done locally. A web site client, on the other hand, might be moreinterested in the Verified by Visa service. Similarly, information andrules particular to Verified by Visa could be stored locally, such aswhether a card member subscribed and has a password, allowing promptingfor the password without going out over the network to determine if theuser is a subscriber. Certain merchants that do a lot of business withcertain corporations may be more interested in the Visa business card,and want local listings of purchase card account numbers that areapproved for purchases at that particular merchant.

In this way, clients 102 and service providers may interact directlywith gateways 104 to load or request services. This may be advantageousfor clients 102 because gateways may be tailored to that client's needs.Further, because a gateway 104 may be maintained at a client's site, thegateway 104 may be accessed easily and without delay.

Accordingly, a decentralized set of services is provided by system 550.Instead of having a central processor, the processing is distributed tothe edge of the network. This eliminates bottlenecks and providesfailover protection. For example, conventionally, if a central processoris used and it goes down, then transaction processing for the wholesystem may be affected. However, if a gateway 104 goes down, processingfor the whole system 550 is not affected and transactions may bererouted to other gateways 104.

Deployment Scenarios

Gateway 104 may be deployed in many different scenarios. For example,gateway 104 may be deployed as a front-end gateway on a private network,as an Internet gateway, and/or as a wireless gateway. FIG. 7 depicts asystem 600 that shows gateway 104 as a front-end gateway according toone embodiment of the present invention. System 600 connects one or moreclients 102 to one or more transaction processors 108 across disparatenetworks 106. Transaction processors 108 may be any system that canprocess a transaction from client 102. For example, Visa, MasterCard,etc. may own transaction processors for credit card and debit cardtransactions, and a member bank (acquirer/issuer) may be a client 102.

A client data center 602 may receive transactions from client 102. Thetransactions may be credit card authorizations or debit cardtransactions. The data center may be a central computer connected via aclient's private network to multiple POS devices, for example. Gateway104 processes the transactions and intelligently switches thetransactions to a transaction processor data center 108. For example, ifthe transaction is a Visa transaction, transaction processor datacenters A and B may be associated with Visa. If the transaction is aMasterCard transaction, processor data centers C may be selected becausethey are associated with MasterCard.

Gateway 104 determines an appropriate transaction processor 108 andnetwork 106 in which to route the transaction. The transaction is thensent to a router 604 which can then route the transaction. In oneembodiment, router 604 may route packets to the selected transactionprocessor 108 through a network 106.

FIG. 8 depicts a system 700 where gateway 104 is an Internet gatewayaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. An Internet client702 includes a client 102. Client 102 may send transactions to gateway104 through the Internet 704. Gateway 104 may be configured forparticular services needed for on-line shopping, such as normal creditcard authorization, password authentication (Verified by Visa), rewardsor points processing, etc.

Gateway 104 provides connectivity to different transaction processors108 for client 102. Gateway 104 may accept HTTP(s) and other XML-basedrequests. Based on application level content and the current state of atransport environment, a service and transaction processor 108 may beselected. Because the transaction may have been sent in HTTP or anyother XML-based request, gateway 104 may translate the message to aformat expected by transaction processor 108 before switching thetransaction. For example, transaction processor 108 may require that amessage be processed in an ISO 8583 format. Typically, when a POS deviceprocesses a transaction, the transaction may be sent in the ISO 8583format. However, when a transaction is processed by an Internet gateway,an Internet client 702 may not be configured to send an ISO 8583message. Thus, gateway 104 is configured to format the message into theISO 8583 format required by transaction processor 108.

In one example, gateway 104 may process Internet transactions from anInternet client 702. Internet client 702 sends an HTTP(s) request togateway 104. Gateway 104 translates the HTTP(s) request into a canonicalinternal message format. Any business services may then be performed onthe transaction. In one example, application level data may be changedin order to conform to a format required by transaction processor 108.For example, an XML transaction may be converted into an ISO 8583format. Gateway 104 then intelligently switches the transaction to atransaction processor 108.

Transaction processor 108 processes the transaction and sends a responseback to gateway 104. This response may be in a transactionprocessor-specific format. Gateway 104 then builds an HTTP(s) responseand sends it to Internet client 702. Accordingly, a transaction throughthe Internet can be processed using gateway 104.

FIG. 9 depicts a system 800 where gateway 104 is used as a wirelessgateway according to one embodiment of the present invention. Thegateway may receive wireless messages from a user's mobile phone, PDA,pager, etc. Gateway 104 may be configured to support different wirelessformats, such as wireless application protocol (WAP), mobile informationdevice protocol (MIDP), JQME, etc. A MIDlet sends XML format requestsover networks such as the global system for mobile communication (GSM)or general packet radio services (GPRS). Gateway 104 may convert inboundrequest payloads into a canonical internal message format. The internalmessage format (IMF) may then be processed by business services. Theoutbound message stream builder 212 converts the IMF to a responsepayload for sending to a transaction processor 108. Accordingly,wireless transactions may be processed by gateway 104.

A wireless transaction will now be described. In one embodiment, awireless client 808 initiates a wireless payment transaction by sendingan XML request over HTTP(s)/GSM/GPRS. Gateway 104 receives the XMLrequest and converts it into a canonical internal message format beforeprocessing the request. Application level content in the transaction isused in addition to a current state of the transport environment toswitch a transaction to a transaction processor 108. Depending on thetransaction processor 108 selected, flow handler 210 may performbusiness services on the transaction. The transaction is then sent to atransaction processor 108.

Transaction processor 108 determines a client bank (or issuer) 802 androutes a message to the issuer 802. Issuer 802 processes the request andsends a response back to transaction processor 108. Transactionprocessor 108 then sends a response (in a transaction processor-specificformat) back to acquirer 804. Gateway 104 receives the response,translates it into an XML format, and sends it to wireless client 808.Accordingly, gateway 104 is configured to route wireless transactionpayments.

FIG. 10 depicts a system 900 for processing ISO 8583 transactionsaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown, anissuer bank 902 and an acquirer bank 904 participate in the transaction.A client computer 102 at an acquirer bank 904 sends an ISO 8583 requestto gateway 104. Gateway 104 uses application level content and thecurrent state of the transport environment in order to select atransaction processor 108 to handle the request. The message is thensent to the selected transaction processor 108 after any businessservices are performed on the request.

Transaction processor 108 processes the transaction and switches it tothe appropriate issuer 902 for authorization. The issuer sends an ISO8583 back to transaction processor 108. Transaction processor 108 thensends a response to gateway 104, which then is sent to client 102 ofacquirer bank 102.

In one example, a transaction processor 108 may not be available. Inthis case, for example, Processor A, data center 01 may not beavailable. This may be the preferred processor for a client 102 for theservice. Gateway 104 then sends the transaction to a second processor,Processor A, data center 02. Gateway 104 may keep checking for theavailability of the primary data center and, once it becomes available,may start routing messages to the primary data center. The re-routing oftransactions is done in a manner that is transparent to client 102.Accordingly, down time for any transaction processors 108 is avoidedusing the intelligent switching of gateway 104.

In another embodiment, the data centers for Processor A may be down andother data centers for other processors, such as Processors B and C, mayneed to be used. Processors B and C may process transactions in adifferent format than that of Processor A. In this case, gateway 104 mayconvert the format of the transaction to a format that corresponds to aformat for processor B or processor C. The formatted transaction is thensent to processor B or processor C. Accordingly, different processorscan be used in a way that is transparent to clients 102. Even ifprocessors use different formats, gateway 104 is configured to stillroute the transaction in that format.

Parse/Build of Messages

Overview of Parse Build Engine

FIG. 11 depicts a system 1000 for parsing messages according to oneembodiment of the present invention. System 1000 is configured to parsemulti-format message streams, such as ISO 8583 messages into a canonicalmessage format referred to as an internal message format (IMF) and buildmulti-format message streams, such as ISO 8583 message streams, from theIMF. Although financial message streams are described, it will beunderstood that any multi-format message streams may be parsed and builtusing system 1000.

Parse/build engine 1004 corresponds to inbound message stream parser 204and outbound message stream builder 212 of FIG. 2. Although all thecomponents as shown in FIG. 2 are not shown in FIG. 11, it will beunderstood that those components may also be included in system 1000.Additionally, parse/build engine 1004 may be included in gateway 104,but may also be included in other components. For example, parse/buildengine 1004 may be compatible with any software applications thatprocesses data in a data format different from other heterogeneoussystems.

Parse/build engine 1004 is configured to receive an input message stream1010 from a system 1006 and parse the message into an internal messageformat. The internal message format (IMF) may then be processed by othercomponents, such as a business services application shown in gateway104. After components in gateway 104 process the message in the IMF,parse/build engine 1004 builds an output message stream 1012 from theprocessed IMF. The output message stream 1012 may then be sent to asystem 1008, or returned to originating system 1006.

Systems 1006 and 1008 may be any system that is configured to sendmessages 1010 and/or receive messages 1012 from parse/build engine 1004(or gateway 104). In one embodiment, systems 1006 and 1008 may be pointof sale devices, smart card devices, transaction processors 108, anysystem configured to process transactions, such as an acquirer, issuer,a service provider, a transaction authenticator, etc. Systems 1006 and1008 may send/receive messages in many different formats such as ISO8583 messages, extensible mark-up language (XML), HTML, etc. The inputmessage stream may also be in any of multiple encoding schemes, such asASCII, EBCDIC, BCD, etc., and have different data types, such asnumeric, string, byte-array etc.

The parse/build engine of FIG. 11 uses a schema table 1028. Each schemais a data structure that provides metadata, including a grammarstructure for the received format as well as pointers to handlers inhandler table 1030. The handlers correspond to particular fields in themessage and convert the different fields of the message into theinternal message format using the grammar structure. The handlers arecode that is individually compiled. Thus, rather than compiling theoverall system, the handlers are separately compiled, giving the speedof compiled software while retaining a modular system that can be easilyupgraded without disturbing other elements of the engine.

Parse/build engine 1004 loads the identified schema and invokes thefunctionality of handlers associated with the schema. The handlers thenparse the fields of a message into an IMF object

The schemas and any associated handlers not already loaded, may beloaded from schema definition file 1026 into schema table 1028 andhandler table 1030 using the schema loader 1024. Schema table 1026includes various schemas, labeled schema name 1, name 2, . . . , name N.For each message format that may be parsed and built by parse/buildengine 1004, a corresponding schema may be provided. Each schema name isassociated with a schema object that defines the “grammar,” thecomposition of a message stream in the external format. The compositionmay include a field sequence, field type, length, character encoding,and other fields that are optional or required. The new schema andcompiled handlers may be loaded and used by parse/build engine 1004without recompiling parse/build engine 1004.

Parse/Build Flow

An example flow will now be described. As shown in FIG. 11, when amessage is received, a business services program calls the parse/buildengine 1004. The message 1010 (a message stream in wire format) is sentto the parse/build engine, where it is first received by parsercomponent 1016. The business services application also provides theschema name 1011 to parser component 1016. The parser component createsan internal message format (IMF) object in which to store the valuesfrom the message fields once they are translated into the IMF. In oneembodiment, parser component 1016 recognizes the origin of message 1010and determines which schema is needed for messages 1010 sent from theorigin. In another embodiment, information in message 1010 may be parsedto determine the data format and thus a corresponding schema that shouldbe used. Further, message 1010 may indicate which schema corresponds tothe data format.

In one example, the parser component 1016 first looks up a root schemacorresponding to the format of message detected, such as an ISO 8583financial message. Such an ISO message may have a bitmap at thebeginning which identifies which fields are present. The root schemawould point to a handler, which is called and parses a type field todetermine what type of message has been received (e.g., authorizationmessage, reconciliation message, etc.). The parser component then looksup the schema for the message type identified, which in turn providesthe particular grammar and points to handlers for that message type.Schema and handlers are looked up and called only for the fieldsactually present in the message. As new fields are identified or pointedto, new schema can be looked up and the corresponding handlers can becalled. A particular field could be a composite field with one or moreconditions, and the translating or parsing of the conditions can pointto additional schema and associated handlers needed, depending on theoutcome of the condition.

The IMF object 1018 (described in more detail below) is populated by thecalled handlers. The only fields populated are the fields correspondingto the fields included in the incoming message.

IMF object 1018 may then be processed by the business softwareapplication of gateway 104. After being processed, IMF object 1018 issent to build component 1020 along with a schema name for the outboundmessage stream. Because processing of the processed IMF object 1018 maybe performed in a different data format, builder component 1020 isconfigured to build an output message stream 1012 from the processed IMFobject 1018. The process described above is repeated in reverse, withbuilder component 1020 looking up a root schema, calling the handlerpointed to in order to build the type information in a process that canbe reiterated many times. The called handlers build values found in IMFobject 1018 into the fields that should be included in output messagestream 1012. Output message stream 1012 may then be sent to system 1008,which can process the output message stream 1012.

FIG. 12 illustrates a business services application 1102 that uses theIMF object 1018 to perform any services provided by gateway 104.Business services application 1102 operates on IMF object 1018. Theoperations could include application layer routing, such as determiningan issuer bank or processing center to send the message to.Additionally, services may be performed on a message, such asapplication level formatting of the message stream, logging,time-stamping, creating new fields needed for a reply or furtherprocessing, etc. The business services application could dopre-processing for an issuer or financial network, or it could performlocal processing that has been offloaded. For example, authorizationmessages for purchases less than $50 may be approved, and a replymessage sent without needing to forward the message to a financialinstitution for approval. Business services application 1102 isconfigured to process data in internal message format and not theexternal formats. Accordingly, business services application 1102 isinsulated from any external formats that are used by other systems byparsing the message into the IMF.

IMF Structure

FIG. 13A depicts a structure for the IMF 1018 according to oneembodiment of the present invention. As shown, N fields are provided inIMF 1018. The fields may be an array of fields where each field can alsoinclude any number of child fields, which in turn can include grandchildfields, etc. in a hierarchical structure. For example, Field 1 includeschild Fields 1.1, 1.2, . . . 1.N. Fields 1.2, . . . 1.N may also includeany number of child fields (not shown). When a message if received, onlythe fields actually used are populated with data.

FIG. 14B shows the hierarchical format with object ID codes, indices tothe field definitions for the fields shown in FIG. 13A. The OID allowsthe indexing for various fields in an IMF object 1018. Field definitionsare accessed for fields in IMF object 1018 using the OID. In oneembodiment, the OID is an eight-byte number that is represented by thedotted decimal representation shown. The OID for the first field isencoded as 1.0.0. Any subfields are encoded as 1.1.0, 1.2.0, and so on.The second field is encoded as 2.0.0, with any subfields encoded as2.1.0, 2.2.0, and so on.

Schema Structure

FIG. 13B shows an example schema. The address of the schema is the firstline, the message definition (MessageDef). The schema includes grammarand pointers to handlers for each of the fields in the message. In theexample shown, the first field of the message is identified by a FieldDefinition Object (FieldDef) 1202 with index 1.0.0. This is alsoreferred to as an OID attribute 1202. Following the index for this fieldis the identification of the handler 1204 to be called (HDR). The restof the elements on that line are the definitions of the grammar for thatparticular field. These field definitions describe the properties of thefield, such as field sequence, field type, length, character encoding,the names of the hander needed, etc. The field definitions may be usedto parse/build fields encoded in different encodings like ASCII, EBCDIC,BCD etc., and different data types like numeric, string, byte-array etc.Thus, multi-format message streams may be processed using the messagedefinition. In one embodiment, the schema is metadata in the form of anXML schema.

The field definitions may include a number of attributes. It will berecognized that the attributes depicted in FIG. 13B are not exhaustiveand a person skilled in the art may appreciate that other attributes maybe used.

A handler attribute 1204 is the name of the field. A required/optionalattribute 1206 indicates whether the field is required or optional in amessage. A first data format attribute 1208 is the data format for thevalue of the field as found in the external format (also referred to asthe wire-format). A second data format attribute 1210 is the internalformat in which the field is stored in the IMF and processed by thebusiness services.

A custom/not custom attribute 1212 indicates whether the field uses acustom handler or a generic handler to the parsing and building of thefield.

A seventh attribute 1214 indicates the handler name that is needed toprocess the value in the field of the message. The handler takes thevalue in the identified field in the received message and either parsesit into the IMF (for a parser schema) or builds the value from the IMFto an external format (for a builder schema).

An eighth attribute 1216 indicates the number of sub-fields within thefield.

Example Message Fields Used in IMF (Internal Message Format)

FIG. 14A depicts an example of the fields used for a particular messageobject 1010 which includes a number of object IDs (OIDs) for differentfields, OIDs 1.0.0, 1.1.0, 1.1.1, 2.0.0, 2.2.0, 4.0.0, and 4.1.0. Theseare the fields pointed to by the schema of FIG. 13B. Thus, for thisexample message, only the fields identified in FIG. 14C would bepopulated in the message object, which is shown in FIG. 13A. FIG. 14Bshows a portion of the total hierarchical object IDs for the completeset of fields in the internal message format. As can be seen, message1010 only includes the portion of these fields that it needs. Forexample, object IDs 1.2.0, 3.0.0 and 4.2.0 are not used. Note that thesefields may have any number of child fields.

The object IDs provide a fast indexing system into the hierarchicalinternal message format of the message object shown in FIG. 13A. Thisindexing system uses the encoded object IDs (1.0.0, etc.), which, foreach field used in the received format, index into (point to) thecorresponding field of the internal message format. The indices canpoint directly to fields that are several layers down in a hierarchicalstructure.

When components of gateway 104 process IMF object 1018, processing ofthe unnecessary fields is not performed. Thus, processing speed isincreased.

Required fields may also be added to IMF object 1018. Some fields may berequired by business services module 1102 or transaction processors 108.If it is determined that a field that is necessary to be used is notincluded in a received message 1010, the field may be populated by thebusiness services module for inclusion in the message to be built forretransmission. Thus, the “required” fields in the schema of FIG. 13Bmay be added to an IMF object 1018 if not included in message 1010.

Initializing Parse/Build Engine

FIG. 15 depicts a simplified flowchart 1400 of a method for initializingparse/build engine 1004 upon the start-up of the business servicesapplication. In step 1402, an initialization request is received fromthe application. The request includes the location of one or more schemadefinition files 1026.

In step 1404, the schemas found in schema definition files 1026 arevalidated. The schemas are validated by a number of procedures, such asverifying that the correct type of data is referred to, that thehandlers identified by the schema actually exist, etc.

In step 1406, the schemas in schema definition files 1026 are loadedinto registry 1022 from disk or other storage repository into DRAMmemory using schema loader 1024.

In step 1408, any handlers specified in the schema are loaded intoregistry 1022. For example, handlers specified by the field definitionsin the message definition object are loaded into handler table 1030. Inone embodiment, handlers are stored as objects keyed by the handlername.

In step 1410, the handlers are bound to the respective messagedefinition objects. For example, all handlers that are specified byfield definitions in a message definition object are bound to thatmessage definition object.

Parse/build engine 1004 has now been initialized for the schema. In oneembodiment, compiling of parse/build engine 1004 is not necessary. Thisis because of the use of compiled handlers that are used to parse/buildfield values.

During run-time, schemas may be dynamically updated and added toparse/build engine 1004. The schemas may be updated by changing messagedefinition objects or may be added by adding new message definitionobjects. If new handlers are needed, they may also be dynamically addedto parse/build engine 1004 as compiled objects.

The schemas may be added without recompiling parse/build engine 1004 andwithout bringing it down. Thus, parse/build engine 1004 may continue toparse/build messages even as schemas are updated.

Adding or Updating Schema

FIG. 16 depicts a simplified flowchart 1500 of a method for dynamicallyadding or updating a schema in parse/build engine 1004 according to oneembodiment of the present invention. In step 1502, a request todynamically add or update a schema is received from an application. Therequest includes the location of one or more schema definition files1026 that include the new or updated schema.

In step 1504, the schemas found in schema definition files 1026 arevalidated.

In step 1506, the schemas in schema definition files 1026 are loadedinto registry 1022. If an updated schema is provided with a set of newfield definitions or changed field definitions, only the new or changedfield definitions may be loaded into registry 1022. While adding orupdating the schema, the appropriate data structures are write-locked toensure that in-flight messages being processed are not corrupted as aresult of schema change. The in-flight messages continue to use theprevious version of the schema while the Schema Loader 1024 loads theupdated version of the schema.

In step 1508, any handlers specified in the message definition objectare loaded into registry 1022. Parse/build engine 1004 may check todetermine if any handlers are already present in registry 1022 and maynot reload those handlers into registry 1022. However, if any handlerswere changed, the changed handlers are loaded.

In step 1510, the handlers are bound to the respective messagedefinition objects. In one embodiment, only the new or changed handlersare bound to a message definition object that has been updated.Parse/build engine 1004 has now been dynamically updated.

Flowchart of Parse Process

FIG. 17 depicts a simplified flowchart 1600 of a method for parsing aninput message stream 1010 according to one embodiment of the presentinvention. In step 1602, a schema for the message is determined. Theschema corresponds to a data format that the input message stream 1010is composed in.

In step 1604, any handlers for the message definition object aredetermined from the pointers in the schema.

In step 1606, the handlers for each field are attached to the field.

In step 1608, the handler translates the fields of the message. Ahandler for each field is invoked. The handlers use the fielddefinitions in the schema to translate values of the fields into theIMF. The OID for the field points to both the field definitions in theschema for that field and also points to the corresponding field in theIMF object 1018.

In one embodiment, parser component 1016 maintains an offset for thefields read in message 1010. For example, the number of bytes read isstored as an offset. The parser component decrements this offset as eachhandler is called. When the handlers reach the end of message 1010(e.g., when the offset equals a certain length), or the last fielddefinition in the message definition object, the parser component knowsthe translation is complete.

In step 1610, the translated fields are stored in the correspondinghierarchy of IMF object 1018. An OID for the field may be used to storethe translated values into corresponding positions in a hierarchy in IMFobject 1018.

If the translation above fails at any point, an error may be returned togateway 104. The parsing may continue and an IMF object 1018 may bereturned. Error flags, however, may be noted in IMF object 1018.

Flowchart of Build Process

The build process will now be described with respect to FIG. 18. FIG. 18depicts a simplified flowchart 1700 of a method for building an outputmessage stream 1012 from an IMF object 1018 according to one embodimentof the present invention. In step 1702, a schema name and IMF object1018 are determined. In one embodiment, IMF object 1018 is firstdetermined. The schema name may be determined based on information inIMF object 1018. For example, the schema name may be stored ininformation in IMF object 1018. Also, the schema name may be determinedby the channel or destination system in which information in the IMFobject 1018 will be sent to.

In step 1704, a message definition object is used to address the schemain registry 1022. In step 1706, any handlers needed for the schema arealso determined.

In step 1708, for each field found in IMF object 1018, the value from acorresponding field in the hierarchy in the IMF object 1018 is loaded.OIDs for the field are used to access the field definitions.

In step 1710, the value is translated from the field in IMF object 1018according to the attributes of the field definition for the field.Accordingly, a value found in the IMF format is translated into a formatcompatible with another system.

In step 1712, the built values are composed in corresponding fields of agenerated output message stream 1012.

If a value for a field in an IMF object 1018 is not found for a fieldrequired for the external forma, the value for that field in theexternal message may be set to null or the message generated may simplynot have this field in the message. Further, if it is determined thatIMF object 1018 should have had this field, then an error may bereturned indicating that a field was not found in IMF object 1018.

Embodiments of the present invention provide many advantages. Forexample, the combination of application level content, current state ofa network transport environment, and/or configuration information may beused to intelligently switch a transaction. This adds value to anytransactions that are sent by a client. For example, if there are anyfailures in the network or transaction processors, the transactions maybe routed to other transaction processors through other networks. Thisavoids down time and any loss of transactions.

Further, business services may be applied to application level content.This allows increased flexibility for the gateway 104 to intelligentlyroute transactions. For example, the data processors 108 may processtransactions in different formats. Gateway 104 may be configured tochange the format of the application level content based on the formatrequired by a transaction processor. Further, the business services thatcan be applied to a transaction may allow a gateway 104 to receivetransactions in multiple formats or protocols. For example, wirelesstransaction payments, Internet transactions, POS transactions, etc. maybe processed. This allows increased flexibility in the processingtransactions.

While embodiments of the present invention have been described asprocessing transactions and in some cases financial transactions, itwill be understood that transactions may be processed for a variety ofareas. For example, transactions may be processed for a music sharingservice. The transactions may include download requests for music, whichgateway 104 subsequently provides intelligent switching of the requestto a service provider and routes the content requested back to theclient. Also, a video service may be provided. Video requests, whetheron-demand or pay-per-view, may be received and processed by gateway 104.The request and subsequent downloads may be intelligently switchedaccording to embodiments of the present invention.

The present invention can be implemented in the form of control logic insoftware or hardware or a combination of both. The control logic may bestored in an information storage medium as a plurality of instructionsadapted to direct an information processing device to perform a set ofsteps disclosed in embodiment of the present invention. Based on thedisclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill inthe art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement thepresent invention.

The above description is illustrative but not restrictive. Manyvariations of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in theart upon review of the disclosure. The scope of the invention should,therefore, be determined not with reference to the above description,but instead should be determined with reference to the pending claimsalong with their full scope or equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving a transaction in afirst format from a merchant point of sale device at a gateway;determining application level information for the transaction, whereinthe application level information comprises information used inprocessing the transaction; determining a rule based on the applicationlevel information, wherein determining the rule comprises determiningthe merchant point of sale device from the application level informationand determining merchant point of sale device-specific rules forprocessing the transaction in a database or based on one or moremerchant point of sale device subscriptions to services provided by aservice provider, and wherein the merchant point of sale device-specificrules include one or more dynamic and static conditions for switchingthe transaction across a plurality of networks, wherein differentservice providers are accessible through the plurality of networks;applying the rule to the application level information; determining aservice for the transaction based on the application of the rule to theapplication level information, wherein rules for the different serviceproviders are stored at the gateway; based on a set of service providerrules associated with the service provider for the determined service:translating the transaction from the first format into a second formatspecified by the service provider for the determined service, andprocessing the transaction in the second format; and sending theprocessed transaction to the merchant point of sale device.
 2. Themethod of claim 1 wherein processing the transaction in the secondformat further comprises sending the transaction in the second format tothe service provider.
 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the serviceprovider is a transaction processor connected to the gateway via one ofthe plurality of networks.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein thetransaction processer is a financial transaction service provider. 5.The method of claim 1 wherein the second format is a canonical formatthat can be processed by the service provider for the determinedservice.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the database includes rulesfor determining the service for the transaction, and a network from theplurality of networks and the service provider to process thetransaction.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the database includes theset of service provider rules specifying a message format required forthe transaction.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the merchant point ofsale device-specific rules are sent immediately before or after thetransaction is sent and dynamically loaded onto the gateway to configurethe gateway at run-time.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the serviceprovider rules specify that transactions with values below a thresholdvalue can be processed and approved by the gateway without switching thetransaction over one of the plurality of networks to the serverprovider.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein processing the transactionin the second format further comprises processing the transaction, atthe gateway, based on the service provider rules for the determinedservice.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein the rules for the differentservice providers are distributed to the gateway by the differentservice providers.
 12. A gateway comprising: a request handler connectedto a merchant point of sale device to receive a transaction comprisingapplication level information from the merchant point of sale device ina first format, wherein the application level information comprisesinformation used by a service provider in processing the transaction; anadaptive route handler connected to a message stream parser to determineapplication level data from the transaction in a second format; a rulesdatabase connected to the adaptive route handler; wherein the adaptiveroute handler accesses the rules database to determine rules specifiedby the merchant point of sale device for processing the transaction andto determine a service for the transaction based on an application ofthe determined rules to the application level information, wherein rulesfor different service providers are stored at the gateway, and furtherto route the transaction to a service provider that can provide thedetermined service, and wherein the rules specified by the merchantpoint of sale device for processing the transaction include one or moredynamic and static conditions for switching the transaction across aplurality of networks, wherein the different service providers areaccessible through the plurality of networks; the message stream parserconnected to the request handler to convert the transaction in the firstformat to the second format specified by the service provider that canprovide the determined service; and a flow handler connected to theadaptive route handler to send the transaction in the second format tothe service provider.
 13. The gateway of claim 12 wherein the secondformat is a canonical format that can be processed by the serviceprovider.
 14. The gateway of claim 13 further comprising a plurality ofsoftware applications wherein at least one functions as the serviceprovider.
 15. The gateway of claim 14 wherein each of the plurality ofsoftware applications is provided by one or more transaction processorsand can process the transaction in the canonical format.
 16. The gatewayof claim 12 wherein the second format is specific to the serviceprovider.
 17. The gateway of claim 16 wherein the service provider is atransaction processor.
 18. The gateway of claim 17 wherein the serviceprovider is connected to the gateway via a network and is selected fromthe group consisting of issuers, acquirers, merchants, and transactionprocessors.